Migration
by R. Lancaster
Summary: Several moons ago, GorgeClan was a wonderful place to be - everyone in the clan seemed to get a long and the prey was plentiful. After the suspicious death of their leader though, the cruel Owlstar took over, turning the happy clan into a group of miserable, exhausted cats. Sparrowfoot and several other cats decide to take matters into their own paws and find a new home.


The leaf fall sun rose high in the sky, lighting the golden and brown leaves from the top as they fell from the trees. GorgeClan was awake and busy already, a low, nervous buzz filling the cats. Things had been stressful for a long while—their new leader, Owlstar, had become cruel and unpredictable in the most recent moons. It used to be a great clan, but moons ago the old leader had died of a suspicious wound. Owlstar had said that she had been attacked by a band of rogues, and the area was thick with the scents of strange cats, but there were murmurs of discontent that showed the clan didn't quite believe it. The dark tabby tom had been working his cats harder than they had ever worked before, to the point where every cat was exhausted at every point of the day.

"Bramblepaw, why are you sleeping?" The low growl came from the medicine cat den, where Owlstar was sharing his rage.

"N-nothing, Owlstar, I w-was just—" began the young cat, but suddenly there was a loud cry of pain and Owlstar stalked out of the den, tail lashing. The medicine cat was at his side in an instant—she was one of the only cats who held no fear towards the clan leader.

"Owlstar! He's little more than a kit, and he was hurt after you pushed him so hard on patrol! He tore out a whole claw and he's half starved," growled the she-cat, her whiskers twitching angrily. "What have you done?"

There was a whimper from the medicine cat den. The small brown tom was in pain. "Daisyfur, I-I'm bleeding."

"_Foxdung_," swore the white-furred healer under her breath, and she turned to shoot a cold glance at the seemingly heartless leader before hurrying to her den. "Gingerpaw, fetch some cobwebs," she called to her apprentice.

Owlstar padded away from the den, hardly seeming to care about his wounded clanmate. "If he's not strong enough to stay awake and train with the rest of us, he should just go be a _kittypet_," he spat to himself, though no other cat had heard.

Sparrowfoot, who shared a mother with the clan leader though they were from different litters, watched from the bushes. He feared his elder brother, but knew that he was out of control. He walked away from the scene in disgust to go share tongues with their sister, Ashcloud. The sleek gray tabby she-cat was waiting for him, tail lashing with annoyance. "You're late, nearly all the fresh-kill is gone now!" she mewed, seeming angry though there was a laugh in her mew.

Sparrowfoot studied the tiny pile and selected a scrawny squirrel for the siblings to share. He settled next to the pretty she-cat and pushed the prey towards her. She gratefully took a nibble and then pushed it back to him. "Sorry, Ashcloud. There was an... issue."

Batfur's ears pricked up, suddenly alert. "An Owlstar issue?"

Sparrowfoot nodded, his whiskers bobbing with his head. "He attacked Bramblepaw because, after being hurt and getting half as much fresh-kill as the rest of us, he decided to sleep for a bit. Poor kit," he added, as he dipped his head to take a bite of what little food they had.

The daylight seemed to shift to sudden darkness as a cloud shifted overhead; Ashcloud's fur began to bristle and she let out a low growl. "Poor kit, indeed! One day that brother of ours is going to seriously hurt someone, you know..." she trailed off, too angry to continue. Her brother couldn't help but agree.

"It's too bad that he has so many lives left, isn't it?" questioned a deep mew from behind them. The two siblings looked up, fearing the worst, but relaxed a bit when they recognized the tom.

"Nightclaw, you scared us! I thought for sure it was Owlstar coming to tear out our throats!" mewed Ashcloud, her voice seeming much more cheerful. Sparrowfoot wondered idly if there was something between the two. This certainly wouldn't be a good time for kits...

Nightclaw dipped his head, and the two could hear him purring happily. _This tom was always so cheerful,_ thought the dark tabby warrior.

The dark tom chuckled slightly, stepping closer to Ashcloud. "It's just me, don't worry. If only he had only one life left, I'm sure if we ganged up on him we could easily kill him!"

The two siblings looked shocked, so Nightclaw clarified—"It was just a joke! StarClan wouldn't be too pleased about that."

Sparrowfoot and Ashcloud finished sharing the squirrel, hunger pains now faded but still there. The trio sat and shared tongues for just a few moments, lest they receive the wrath of their leader.

"Killing Owlstar obviously isn't the way to go about things," mewed Ashcloud, and her brother nodded. "Something has to be done, though..."


End file.
